Improvement in self-closing hatchways



JAMES OARHARIT, OF PONTIAC, MIOIL, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF HIS RIGHT TO ROBERT 'LE BAItON AND HARRISON A. DEWEY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPRDVEMENT IN sEllF-CLfiSlNG HATCHWAVS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,286, dated April 28, 1874 application filed April 3, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES OARHARTI, of Pontiac, in the county of Oakland and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Hatchway-Protector, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention; Fig. 2, a section through line a? m, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3, a section through line 3 3 Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference in the accompan yin g drawings denote the same parts.

This invention relates to certain devices for automatically opening and closing hatchways in warehouses and other places where merchandise elevators are employed, thereby guarding against accident.

The object of my invention is to provide simple and efi'ective means for operating a hatchwayprotector, having horizontal trapdoors opening upward on the approach of the elevator from. above or below, and closing after the passage of the same, thereby giving warning to any person standing over the hatchway of the approach of the elevator in season for escape, without danger of falling through the hatchway. To this end the invention consists in the combination of hinged trap-doors covering the hatchway with a horizontal double rack reciprocated by a flanged vertical shaft connected with the elevator, in such manner as to be turned by the motion of the latter, and open and close the trap-doors before and after the passage of the elevator, as I will now proceed to describe.

In the drawings, A A represent the floors of a warehouse or other building, and B represents the elevator, operated by a wire rope or chain, 0. D D are vertical guidesone on each side of the elevator. E is a vertical shaft on one side of the elevator, extending from the lower floor to the top, and havingits ends stepped in suitable bearings, so as to turn freely. The hatchways F, through which the elevator passes, are covered by two trapdoors, G G, each hinged on opposite sides of the hatchway, and therefore opening upward from the center. H represents a horizontal bar, located in suitable guides on the same side of the hatchway as the shaft E, and at right angles with the hinged doors. The bar His cut away in its upper side at one end and on its lower side, or provided with a slot or recess at the opposite end, as shown, these portions being provided with racks I I, the teeth of the former projecting downward, and of the latter projecting upward, the racks e11- gaging, respectively, with the upper and lower sides of pinions or rack-segments J J, located on the hinged edges of the trap-doors G. M represents a rack on the side of the bar H, the teeth of which project inward and en gage with a rack-segment, L, on the vertical shaft E. K represents a curved flange attached to the periphery of the shaft E, and extending from the top to the bottom of the latter. The elevator is provided with lugs or guides N, which project on each side of the flange M and, as the elevator ascends and descends, the guides N, sliding along the flange, impart a partial rotation to the shaft, the flange being so curved as to extend around one-fourth of the shaft, and give the latter a partial revolution when the elevator approaches the hatchway in either direction. This revolution of the shaft gives a horizontal motion to the bar H by means of the rack-segment L and rack K, this motion opening the trap-doors simultaneously in opposite directions by means of the upwardly.

and downwardly projecting racks I I engagin g with the upper and lower sides of the pinions J J of the trap-doors, as will be readily understood' After the elevator has passed through the hatchway, the guides N encounter another curve in the flange M, and turn the shaft in the opposite direction, thereby closing the doors.

It will be seen that a person standing on the trap-doors is made aware of the approach of the elevator in either direction by their rising, and compelling him to move. The doors openin g upward from the center obviate any danger of precipitating a person standing upon them through the hatchway.

I am aware that hatchway-protectors operated by a vertical shaft partially rotated by ward and downward projecting racks I I, and inwardly-projecting rack K, in combination with the single vertical shaft E, having the rack-segment L, and the trap-doors G, having the pinions or segments J J on their hinged edges, all arranged and operating substantially as and for the purposes specified.

JAMES GARHART'I.

Witnesses:

J osnrn E. SAWYER, CHARLES DEAN. 

